Centralizing Context and Culture in the Co-construction of Health: Localizing and Vocalizing Health Meanings in Rural India

Abstract

A growing number of communication scholars have articulated the need for understanding context as a key component of health meanings. In this project, the authors seek to explore the role of context in the domain of health meanings in tribal India. The tribal population in India comprises people who have been consistently isolated and exploited, and stripped of their rights and resources. Interest in their health is propelled by this marginalization and their existence in the twilight of tradition and modernization. This article, through the use of participant narratives and a grounded theory of analysis, aims to lay out how meanings of health are contextually constructed by tribals in India. The results demonstrate the constant pain and hardship that envelop their lives, their pining for structural capabilities, and a dialectical tension between tradition and modernization in the coexistence of multiple treatment options.

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